Sport Chalet Reports Quarterly Loss

Increased marketing and labor costs resulted in a third fiscal quarter loss of $1.9 million for Sport Chalet, Inc, despite rising sales.

The La Cañada operator of specialty sporting good stores announced a loss of $1.9 million (13 cents a share) for the quarter ending Dec. 30, 2012, compared with a net loss of $1 million (7 cents) in the third quarter last year.

The loss comes from a $1.7 million increase in sales and administrative costs, which include a $700,000 increase in advertising and $600,000 in labor expenses such as salaries, payroll taxes and employee health insurance coverage.

“While this was a tough holiday season for many retailers, our third quarter results were well below our expectations. Following a strong summer and fall, positive sales trends deteriorated significantly in November and for the first two weeks of December,” said Chief Executive Craig Levra in a statement.

Sales increased $300,000, or less than 1percent, to $97.6 million for the 13 weeks ending Dec. 30 from $97.2 million for the 13 weeks that ended Jan. 1, 2012. Comparable store sales decreased 0.7 percent for the quarter, compared to the same period last year.

Shares of Sport Chalet closed up 5 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $1.90 on the Nasdaq.